Page 9 of Thicker than Blood

“No. The samples I gathered are boring. Nothing new. Did you see the carnage?”

“Just the bloody snow on my way here.” He offers a crooked smile, his go-to when he’s uncomfortable or nervous. He’s one of the most confident people I’ve ever met, but only a fool would feel that way in the face of tonight’s attack.

Enyo reaches up to tug on his shock of bright pink hair, another habit of his when he’s unsure what to do next, so I jump in to save him.

“I was there when the victims were. I got some blood and tissue samples just to see if a fresh attack showed anything we don’t already know.”

“And nothing?”

“Nothing. You won’t believe what happened though.”

“Try me.”

“Elias Caswell showed up.”

Enyo’s big brown eyes get even bigger. “No fucking way.”

“In the flesh. He just called me too.”

Enyo blinks rapidly. “He called you? Is that a new trait? To telepathically find a phone number?”

I actually chuckle at that. “No, idiot. Meredith made me his contact.”

“Ooh.” Enyo rubs his hands together. “Is he just as gorgeous in person?”

Nodding, I recall the true scope of the vampire’s face. “He’s unreal. He’s even better than Julian Reed inVampire’s Wish.”

“You’re lying. Julien Reed is the hottest actor alive. That’s literally impossible.”

“I’m telling the truth, En. I could barely talk to him.”

“Whoa. What did he call about? A blood sacrifice?”

“No. He wants to help us.”

Enyo scrunches his face. “Help us with what?”

“The vampire war, my guy. Are you paying attention?”

“I’m trying to. Elias is a vampire though.”

“That’s why I’m hyperventilating.”

“Oooh.” He nods. “I get it now.”

“Glad you caught up.” I huff. “On the one hand, we could use some insider knowledge, but on the other, how do we know he’s not a spy or something?”

“Yeah, no clue.” He leans closer to me with a crazy grin on his lips. “What’ll you do if you end up working with him? We all know about your vampire fetish.”

Rolling my eyes, I shove his arm. “We don’tallknow and it’s not a fetish.”

“Okay”—he gives me a knowing look—“but you want some vampire dick, and Elias has a vampire dick. Probably. Assuming, of course.”

I really don’t need another reason to think about Elias’s probable vampire dick. “This problem is bigger than my interest in understanding all aspects of vampirism.”

“You’re right.” Enyo adopts a serious expression. “I guess you should call Meredith.”

“I know, but…” The words trail off as the possible outcomes swirl around me. “What if that’s exactly what she wants?”

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